FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is coming in right where we were seeing it — at $60M in weekend 2, -59%, at 4,410 locations. That hold is similar to that of the second weekend of Little Mermaid, which was also a Memorial Day theatrical release. Today looks like $17M for Lilo‘s second Friday, -70%. Running total for the Dean Fleischer Camp directed movie by Sunday is $277M.
From left: Ben Wang, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio in ‘Karate Kid: Legends’
Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection
However, Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends is looking lighter than forecasts with a $20M opening after a $7M-$8M Friday that includes previews in 3,809 theaters. That would put the Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan team-up in third place behind Paramount’s second weekend of Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning, with a $7.7M second Friday and $27.3M second weekend, -57% at 3,861. That’s better than Dead Reckoning‘s second weekend decline of -65% sans Imax screens. Running total for the Christopher McQuarrie directed, Tom Cruise title by Sunday looks like $122.6M.
The anticipation is that Saturday will work in both Lilo and Karate Kid: Legends‘ favor.
Fourth is New Line’s Final Destination: Bloodlines with $2.8M today at 3,134 and a third weekend of $10M, -48%, for a running total by Sunday of $110.9M.
Fifth is A24’s Bring Her Back with $3M today (including previews), and $6M-$7M for the weekend at 2,409 sites.
Even if Karate Kid: Legends comes in less than expected, we are in far better shape than a year ago when the post Memorial Day weekend only did $66M per Box Office Mojo (there weren’t any major studio releases and Garfield Movie led with a second weekend take of $14M). The top five movies this weekend (at the high end) are already grossing north of $124M.
PREVIOUS FRIDAY AM: Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends grossed $2.3M from previews that began at 2 p.m. Thursday.
The PG-13 movie is a vortex of old school and new school: Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san, Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and, shhhhh, the Cobra Kai gang (I mean, is it really a secret?). Forecast for the movie is $25M-$30M in a marketplace where Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is overpowering with a potential $60M second frame. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning also is hoping to hold with those Imax screens, around $32M or less.
Critics like this Karate Kid a little less than the 2010 Chan one, 55% Rotten vs. 67% fresh. Karate Kid: Legends received 4 stars on PostTrak and a 68% definite recommend from definite audiences, 4 1/2 stars from parents and a 63 definite recommend, and kids under 12 with 4½ stars and a 79% must-see right away. Boys ages 10-12 at 64% made up the majority of the under-12 set; that demo is an essential portion of the Cobra Kai cult. Overall, men showed up at 60% last night.
Karate Kid: Legends‘ Thursday night is just ahead of the $1.9M that Sony/Alcon’s The Garfield Movie reboot made last May before a Friday of $8.4M and 3-day of $24M.
Karate Kid: Legends was made for $45M net before P&A; that’s $5M more than the 2010 version cost (unadjusted for inflation). The Karate Kid franchise is 41 years old and counts $620M at the global box office from five previous movies; the bulk of that figure is from the Chan/Jaden Smith version 15 years ago, which made $359M worldwide.
Sally Hawkins in ‘Bring Her Back’ (2025)
A24/Courtesy Everett Collection
A24’s Danny and Michael Philippou horror movie Bring Her Back made $850K in previews at 2,409 theaters that began at 4 p.m. Thursday. That figure is just under A24’s fall sleeper Heretic, which made $1.2M in previews starting at 7 p.m. before turning into a $4.3M Friday and $10.8M opening. The Philippou twins’ previous A24 movie, 2022’s Talk to Me, opened to $10.4M. A good definite-recommend from the fanboy crowd last night for Bring Her Back at 58%, with women over 25 giving the movie its best positive score at 83%. The Thursday crowd was male-heavy at 57% to female’s 43%. Women overall enjoyed it more than the guys, 83% to 77%. Go Sally Hawkins. The pre-weekend outlook is $5M-$7M. On Rotten Tomatoes, Bring Her Back has been stamped with 88% certified fresh. No audience score yet.
‘Lilo & Stitch,’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
Disney/Paramount
Lilo & Stitch ends its first week with $217M at 4,410 theaters, after $9.2M yesterday, -9% from Wednesday. The pic’s first week is 15% behind that the $255M for Inside Out 2, which ended its run at $652.9M, and it’s 9% behind Moana 2‘s first seven days of $239.3M (final $460.4M). No, we’re not saying the movie is doing badly, we’re just trying to give you an idea of where Lilo & Stitch lives. While no one is forecasting this for Lilo & Stitch, sometimes these fan-fave Disney movies can go into overdrive, i.e. Inside Out 2 owns the best second weekend ever for a PG movie of $101.2M. And nobody saw that coming…
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning ends its first week with an estimated $95.3M at 3,857, which is 7% ahead of the first week of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout ($220.1M final domestic) and 4.7% ahead of the first seven days of 2022’s Dead Reckoning (final domestic B.O. was $172.6M).
The rest of the top 5 for the week:
3. Final Destination Bloodlines (WB/NL) 3,523 theaters, Thu $1.85M (-13% from Wed), Week $30.7M (-56%), Total $100.9M/Wk 2
It was the highest grossing of the franchise out of the gate. Nothing in its way.
4. Thunderbolts* (Dis) 3,180 theaters, Thu $765K (-10%), Wk $14.8M (-36%), Total $177M/Wk 4
5. Sinners (WB) 2,632 theaters, Thu $880k (-15%), Wk $14.06M (-37%), Total $261.8M/Wk 6